Friday, May 30, 2008
What is Beauty?
After reading Gendered Messages in Advertising in chapter 11 of our text, I though back to when I was in my 20's, and I must admit that I was a product junkie. When a new product was advertised by one of my favorite celebrities, I would run out and buy it. I have tried all kinds of beauty creams, shampoos, lotions, exercise equipment, diet plan, etc.(you get the picture) trying to change one thing or another about my appearance. A globe study done by Dove in 2004 concluded that 90% of women, ages 15-65 wanted to change at least one thing about themselves. I can truly believe this. At the end of using my many products, I was hoping to look like one of my favorite celebrities. I agree 100% with what Kilbourne stated in 1999 and 2007, that ads do affect what people purchase and what they consider attractive, feminine, masculine, etc. We buy not just products but the images that advertisers sell us (pg.271). Thank God I now understand that it takes a "team" of people to help celebrities get ready for their public appearances. And a little photo-retouch for those magazine covers. Without their "team" and touch-ups they would look like you and me. Advertisements would have us think differently. They set such unrealistic standards of beauty. What about the young boys, girls, and teens that do not understand this. They want to look like their favorite pop stars. They learn about the latest trends through these advertisements and are easily influenced by the messages of, thin is in and 789 ways to look sexy (and article in last months Seventeen magazine). How do they get a clear understanding of how not to fall for the propaganda? How do you handle these things if you have young children or teenagers?
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3 comments:
The media is always advertising thinness in females and it gets really worrisome when the younger ones get the message too. When my daughter was about 10 she asked me how she could lose weight because her best friend told her she was chubby. I of course told her she was not going on a diet and also asked where her friend got that idea from. She told me it was from the show Americas Next Top Model. Even though the show tries to include plus size models kids still want to be the skinny models because of the accepted view from our culture which needs to change into a more healthier and positive message.
Ummm...interesting idea for a gender communication paper and project...the gender specfic messages portrayed about each of the gender in advertising. You mention a few of the female specific gender message, but, the ads are out there focusing on male specific gender messages too.
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